Chapter Thirty-Four: The Truth Within the Shadows

Stepping out of the Demon Suppression Tower, Qin Wu was surrounded by a group of people. At their head was Tu Shan, with several youths obediently seated beside him, listening attentively. At the moment, he was demonstrating the third realm within the "Divine Sky Nine Transformations"—the Azure Firmament Transformation.

"Nine transformations and nine cycles, nine heavens and nine skies. My Supreme Tai Sky method is designed to forge nine great thunder heavens, transforming a single life-bound divine thunder into the thunder of the Divine Sky." Above his head, an azure radiance gleamed, thunderous flashes resounding for miles. The sky was filled with lightning and thunder, as if a great edifice were about to collapse. This was the unique domain forged by the "Divine Sky Nine Transformations."

Encompassing all directions in thunder, forming a distinct Dao domain, one could stand alone against many, advancing and retreating at will.

"But this grand technique consumes vast amounts of magical power; only those scions of the sacred lands can wield it, I suppose?" Ji Feichen and Senior Brother Ma walked over.

Ma Shixin handed back Qin Wu's token. "Brother, your demon-suppressing achievements have been recorded in the sect's book of merit. The elders will note your good deeds in due course."

Qin Wu nodded, withdrew his power, and said to Tu Shan and the others, "If you return to the palace, you may seek me out." With that, he vanished once more in a flash of blue and red thunder.

Ji Feichen and Tu Shan excused themselves, returning to the Immortal Lock Tower and leaving the area of the Demon Suppression Tower.

Through the Sky-Transcending Talisman, Tu Shan communicated with Ji Feichen. "How did it go?"

"I found someone we can use," Ji Feichen replied, recounting what he had seen. "The Corpse Immortal—Drought Demon. She is a true Earth Immortal."

"If it's her, she can be saved," Tu Shan's eyes sparkled. "That woman cultivator was once pure and kind. Even though she later fell into evil and slaughter, after three thousand years, she must have calmed. Moreover, that old case still has unresolved mysteries; it may not be as simple as it appears."

Back then, all said the Corpse Immortal Drought Demon fell to evil due to unextinguished emotional entanglements. But according to Tu Shan's family records, it seems someone plotted against her from behind the scenes.

"Leave this to me. I'll find a way to contact her. The Tai Sky Palace is not a place for us to linger."

"By the way, when you were chatting just now—what did that fellow say? What about his strength as the Tai Sky's direct heir?"

"He walks the path of the One Origin's extremity, but his magical power hasn't truly reached perfection," Tu Shan replied with a complicated look. Both of them were in the late stage of shedding mortality, just a step away from becoming Human Immortals. Yet Qin Wu's foundation was even sturdier than his.

"It seems that longevity medicine must be taken sooner." Tu Shan had brought home a family treasure from Tiger Departure Mountain—a longevity elixir, said to have fallen from the Nine Skies of Azure Serenity.

The two returned to the Immortal Lock Tower, asked Ding Shan and others to reenter their cells, and Ji Feichen retired to his room for quiet cultivation.

Qin Wu's appearance had struck Ji Feichen deeply.

Just how strong were the heirs of the sacred lands? From Tu Shan's frightened demeanor, one could glean a hint. In terms of magical power, Tu Shan, the fox demon, surpassed Ji Feichen.

"And this is only the Tai Sky Palace's heir. If the disciples of the Tai Origin Palace and Supreme Palace appear, what then?" Ji Feichen disliked the demonic sect, but at present, he was one of them. If his identity was discovered, he would surely die.

"No wonder the demonic sect has always been suppressed. The sacred heirs of the Three Palaces are so powerful—even if the Blood Sea heirs are formidable, could they fight three at once?"

Moreover, Ji Feichen's nature was not one to entrust his fate to others.

"When the sacred heirs emerge, their brilliance eclipses the entire era. Beneath them, all are buried in obscurity, mere stepping stones for their fame." Since traversing to this world, Ji Feichen had climbed to this point relying on his own means. Naturally, he harbored a pride that would not let him be subordinate to others.

"Since I've arrived, since I appear in this age, the era of sacred lands ruling all should now end."

Ji Feichen closed his eyes, tightly grasping the Black Dragon Scale. This treasure, brought with him across worlds, was his source of confidence.

The patterns on the black scale undulated like ancient waves, ever-changing. Ji Feichen immersed his consciousness into the scale, discovering within its tiny surface a vast world.

It was a great world composed of water, endless seas, azure waves towering, with clouds and rain ever falling from the sky. Ji Feichen's consciousness transformed into a black dragon, rolling through the ocean.

The black dragon was the true nature of Ji Feichen's Dao. The divine dragon, formed by the Old Lord's dharma body, rolled through the sea, driving clouds and rain, summoning wind and thunder. Black dragon energy coursed through his body like serpentine dragons winding along his meridians.

Dragon energy was the power cultivated by dragon kind. Ji Feichen, practicing demonic arts, also contained dragon energy.

Each surge of consciousness within the Black Dragon Scale released a strand of dragon energy, further purifying the black dragon energy within his body, strengthening Ji Feichen's magical power.

"Transform!" Ji Feichen scattered his magical power into ten thousand and eight drops of spiritual water, which then became eighteen hundred streams of lightning, endlessly circulating.

Having satisfied the necessary cycles, he could attempt the breakthrough to Human Immortal. Yet Ji Feichen aspired to the ancient cultivation methods, so he did not expedite his magical power, focusing instead on the "Water Divine Thunder."

What Ding Shan and Qin Wu had said made Ji Feichen truly desire to forge a lightning technique of his own.

His ambition was high; if he were to cultivate, he would cultivate the strongest supreme thunder technique.

"No need to consider the Divine Sky Nine Transformations. The Supreme branch has no famous thunder arts, the Supreme Clear Divine Thunder is still inferior to the ninth layer of Divine Sky. The Tai Origin branch is not known for thunder techniques. Am I to practice the Primordial One Qi Divine Thunder?"

The Primordial One Qi sounded similar to the ancient cultivator’s path. Yet the Primordial Divine Thunder was not so easily mastered. If one truly comprehended the "Primordial Dao," Ji Feichen's Tai Ji Dao arts from the "Supreme Cloud Dragon Jade Essence" would be complete.

"Seeking the ten heavenly stems’ thunder arts—I have no such interest." Ji Feichen chose another path, painstakingly deducing the Five-Element Mysterious Yin Extinction Divine Thunder from the Water Divine Thunder.

"Is it not simply refining the pure Yin method from the Yin thunder, cultivating a purer, colder thunder technique?" In the days that followed, Ji Feichen diligently practiced and condensed his thunder, leaving all contact with the Corpse Immortal to Tu Shan.

The blazing sun rose in the east, the Golden Crow shining down. Ji Feichen sat in his room, inhaling and exhaling lightning, carefully studying the refinement of the Water Divine Thunder.

Black thunder roamed the quiet chamber, dragon-like and serpentine, fierce and ruthless. Within it was a trace of pure, cold Yin energy, somewhat akin to the lunar essence.

Yet to refine the thunder was easy; harmonizing the five elements was hard. Each time the Yin thunder was refined, the five elements would fail to operate, and the technique would collapse, returning to thunder absorbed by Ji Feichen.

"If the Five-Element Extinction Divine Thunder cannot be achieved, why not turn to the profound Yin path, abandoning the five elements?"

Suddenly, a soft laugh sounded at Ji Feichen's ear. Startled, he looked around, frowning: Was this voice from the Sky-Transcending Talisman? And female?

"You wish to save me, yet do you not know who I am?"

"The Corpse Immortal—Drought Demon?" Ji Feichen was stunned, then understood. "That kid made contact with you?"

"He's bold indeed, daring to deliver the Sky-Transcending Talisman right under Liuyazi's nose." Tu Shan was truly resourceful—even without Ji Feichen, he dared to venture into the Three Mountain Tower.

He had left a few drops of water as a signal on the Pillars of Water and Fire, then pretended to accidentally shake the Drought Demon’s white silk. The number of vibrations, combined with the water drops, formed a coded message.

Finally, using the black moon fox's golden thread parasite from Tiger Departure Mountain, he delivered the Sky-Transcending Talisman into the Pillars of Water and Fire.

"It’s fortunate you’re here to rescue me. If it were someone else, you’d surely die, and your plan to abduct anyone would fail."

Ji Feichen frowned. The Sky-Transcending Talisman was a secret talisman produced by Tu Shan, its full name being "Sky-Transcending No-Form Parent-Child Talisman," originally a pair. Ji Feichen had one, Tu Shan had the other, but now Tu Shan had given his to the Drought Demon. What would Tu Shan do?

Without the talisman’s secret communication, he and Tu Shan could not converse freely.

Setting aside this worry, Ji Feichen asked, "Liuyazi—is he the Earth Immortal in the Demon Suppression Tower?"

"Correct," the Drought Demon replied serenely, as if not speaking of herself. "He devised the method to extract my magical power, converting it through the Pillars of Water and Fire to suppress the demon cultivators in the Demon Suppression Tower. On one hand, it restricts me from escaping; on the other, it uses me to restrain others."

"So, senior, you survived the last slaughter?"

"No, they spared me because I possess a secret." The woman shifted the topic. "You from the Underworld Sect—I’ve heard your purpose from that boy. If you wish to free me and buy yourselves time, diverting the attention of the three Earth Immortals is not difficult. The key is how you plan to save me. And, do you truly understand the Three Mountain Tower?"

Ji Feichen probed, "What does senior mean?"

"The Three Mountain Tower seems to imprison criminals within, but in reality, the true prisoners are underground."

"Underground!" Ji Feichen nearly exclaimed aloud.

"I’ve inspected the Immortal Lock Tower these days, almost reaching the fourth floor. Are all these people fakes—wait, illusion?"

Ji Feichen suddenly realized, "Everyone we see is merely a projection?"

"Exactly. The true cells of the Three Mountain Tower are underground. When you lead someone out for fresh air in the Immortal Lock Tower, you are actually transferring them from their corresponding underground cell to the above-ground counterpart. Those keys do not unlock the cell doors, but bring the underground prisoner up."

Ji Feichen gradually understood.

If the ground were water’s surface, then the real Three Mountain Tower was a reflection within the water. Whatever the physical tower had, the submerged tower had as well.

Where there is substance, there must be shadow. The true prisoners are not in the physical Three Mountain Tower, but in its shadow.

"When someone escapes, the correspondence between the tower's reality and illusion will seal. At that point, you will not be able to capture anyone from inside the Immortal Lock Tower."

Ji Feichen fell silent, pondering for a long time before asking, "And you, senior?"

"I am also underground, in the lowest level of the Demon Suppression Tower—the longest-imprisoned Earth Immortal," the Drought Demon said with self-mockery. "If not for my remaining value, I would have been killed in the last massacre."

The Pillars of Water and Fire, forged by Liuyazi to suppress the Drought Demon, also inadvertently gave her a slender chance. If the Pillars were overturned, she could escape through the passage out of the Demon Suppression Tower.

"If she escapes, it will certainly throw the Tai Sky Palace into chaos. On that day, I can first bring out those we want for fresh air, and in the ensuing disorder, whisk them away."

Ji Feichen calculated his plan, then asked about the main issue. "How should we rescue senior?"

"Break the balance within the Pillars of Water and Fire, then probe into their base and remove the three Demon Suppression Talismans from my body. Only then can my soul move freely, and I can split open the Demon Suppression Tower. At that time, I will help you divert attention."